Improvement in revolving fire-arms



A. HALL.

Revolver.

Patented Mar. 24, 1863.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT HALL, OF DANViLLE, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,96I, dated March 24, 1863.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ALBERT HALL, of Danville, in the county of Des Moines and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Revolving Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a sideview of a pistol with my improvements, representing it with the capplate of the lock removed to expose the interior and with'the barrel and part of the cylinder in section. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front View of the barreland cylinder. Fig. 4 is a back view of the cylinder. Fig. 5 is a side View of the hammer.

Similar letters and numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the several parts of the lock of a revolving fire-arm whereby the whole of the hammer, with the exception of the thumb-piece, is brought within the frame, and the arm, more especially if a pistol, is made more compact,and whereby the action of the trigger is rendered easier and more like that of a hair-trigger.

It also consists in the novel construction of and mode of applying a movable plate to provide for the loading of the chambers at the front of the cylinder and for confining the loads in the chambers after their insertion.

It also consists in the arrangement, in combination with such movable plate, of an opening in the lower part of the recoil-shield to provide'in reloading the chambers for the pushing out of exploded percussion-primers of peculiar construction, which are employed in the cartridges with which I propose to load the arm. l

To enable others to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Ais the'frame, having made in the same piece with it the recoil-shield B, and having a portion, 0, extended longitudinally over the cylinder to connect with the barrel.

D is the barrel, having on the lower part of its rear end a downward projection, c, for the reception of the front end of the axis-pin'E,

and on the upper part of the said end a rearward projection, d, which is mortised for the reception of a tenon, a, formed at the front extremity of the portion 0 of the frame. The barrel thus constructed at its rear end is secured to the frame and recoil-shield partly by means ofa key, I), inserted transversely through the mortise and tenon above mentioned, and partly by means of a pin, 6, passing transversely through the projection c and the front part of the axis-pin, the rear end of the axispin being firmly screwed through the recoilshield into the portion of the frame behind it.

The cylinder H has formed upon its rear end the usual ratchet,f, which is operated upon to produceits rotation, and outside ofthis ratchet there are provided in the said end a concentric circular series of holes, 9 9, corresponding with the number of chambers for the reception of the point of a stop-dog, l, by which the cylinder is locked with itschambers in'line with the barrel. 7

F is the hammer, working within the frame on the fixed pin h, which is arranged much lower down in the frame than is customary. The outside of the head of this hammer is made in the form of an arc, concentric with its axis of oscillation, and a portion of the upper part of the frame A is made of corresponding form, so that the said head, working in a slot provided in that part of the frame, may be just flush with it, leaving no part of the hammer but the thumb-piece F projecting above the frame. The head of the hammer extends back some distance beyond theshank and the thumbpiece, as shown at F, such extension serving to close the slotin the frame when the hammer is down or forward, and serving also to carry a pin,j, through which the rotation of the cylinder is effected, and affording convenience for the application ofthe mainspring G, which presses against the rear extremity of such extension.

I is the scar, suspended from a pin, k, above the tumbler of the hammer, and extending downward nearly to the bottom of the portion of the-frame in front of the hammer, having its lower end forked to receive a pin, l, which is carried by the trigger J, and having its tooth n at about the middle of its length. The trigger J is arranged to work in the usual position on a pin,m, and the triggerspringp is ap.

v -the said ratchet.

I and so makes the trigger work so easily that in drawing it the aim is not likely to be disturbed.

K is a lever through which the hammer operates to produce the rotation of the cylinder.

tir This leverrhas provided intuit a longitudinal slot, g, which fits to the pin h, and enables the said lever to move longitudinally as wcllas' oscillate upon the said pin. The front end of r the said lever is made of suitable form to en- .ter the notches of the ratchet f, and the rear' end is forked, as shown at t in Fig. 1, to receive the pin j on the back part of the hammer-head; but the space within the fork is wider than the pin j, so that the said pin may move up and down therein to some extent. On

the innerorleft-hand side of the said lever there is a projecting pin, it, against the back of which there bears a springm, which is secured to the .back of the hammer-shank, and which tends to press the said lever longitudinally forward toward the ratchet f of the cylinder opposite to which the said lever is placed. The front end of the said lever works through a slot, to, in the recoil-shield, to act upon the teeth of By the act of cocking the hammer the pin j is made to act upon the lower prong of the fork t of the said lever, and so to depress it and raise the front end, which is thus caused to act upon a tooth of the ratchet in the manner required to produce the rotation lof the cylinder.

rear'end 0f the lever is raised by the action of As the hammer strikes, the

the pinj in its fork, and the front end moved down over a tooth of the ratchet, and after passing the front of the said tooth the said lever strikes the lower edge of the slot 20 in the recoil-shield, and the said edge being beveled, as shown at x in Fig. 1, and the point of the lever being beveled also, the lever in sliding down the bevel 0c is caused to move longitudinail y backward far enough to clear the ratchet entirely, so that until the cylinder has been unlocked by the withdrawal of the dog y from one of the holes 9 .g in the cylinder, as will be presently described, the lever in the recockin g movement of the hammer will be prevented from rubbing againstor catching in the ratchet. The play allowed to the pinj in the fork t prevents the lever from being moved at all during the first part of the cooking movement, and so assists in providing for the unlocking of the cylinder before the lever K comes into operation on the ratchet.

The stop-dog y is attached to a spring, 3

which is arranged within the frame A at the tached to the hammer there is another book, 2, which, as the hammer commences to be drawn back to cook it, catches the said hook 3 and draws it back, and so draws back the dog y from the hole 9 in the cylinder which it has previously entered to lock the latter. By the time the rotary movement of the cylinder has commenced, the hook z, having a partiallyupwa-rd motion, escapes from the hook 3 and lets the spring y carryforward the catch again into contact with the rear end of the cylinder; but} the hole 9 having now passed by the position of the dog, the latter rests against the cylinder till the next hole g comes'round to it,

when it drops into, the latter holeand stopsww the further revolution until the hammer has been let down and is agaiirdrawn back. As

the hammer moves forward or falls to strike,

the hook z is permitted to slip over the hook 3 by reason of its being attached to the hammer by a pin-joint,-8. This joint is so constructed with a shoulder below its pin that the hook cannot drop below a certain position, though it is permitted to rise sufficiently to enable it to slip over the hook 3 and the said hook 2 has applied to it a spring, (1, which insures its engagement with the hook y L is the movable plate which covers all that portion of the front of the cylinder not covered 7 by the barrel. This plate .is of circular form corresponding with the cylinder, but has an opening corresponding in form with the rear end of the barrel, and the sides of this opening are grooved to fit easily to two small guide-tongues, 10 10, formed onthe barrel, one of the said tongues and grooves being formed with a stop to prevent the plate from beingdrawn entirely 011' the barrel, but permitting it to be brought down to the position shown in red outline in Fig.- 3, which leaves the front end of any one of the chambers 11 11 of the cylinder that may this purpose the rear portion of each chamber.

is bored smaller than the portionin front, which receives the bullet. This cartridge has attached to its rear end a small tubular primer, l4, whichenters a vent, 12, in the rear of the chamber and is fired by the hammer striking into the vent through a slot, 13, provided therein- The metallic cartridge-shells 15 are blown out in firing, but the primers .14: remain in the vents until the chambers are reloaded, when they are pushed out through the small hole 16 in the lower partof the recoil-shield, such openin gbeing exactly opposite the position in which the chambers are loaded. 7

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The suspended sear I, constructed and ar ranged in combination with the hammer and trigger, substantially as herein specified.

2. 'I he stop-dog 3 arranged in rear of the cylinder within the frame and combined with the hammer by means of hooks 3 and z, substantially as herein described.

3. The lever K, constructed and applied in relation to the cylinder and combined with tially as and for the purpose herein specified.

5. The plate L, constructed and applied in combination with the barrel and cylinder,sub-

stantially as and for the purpose herein specifled.

c. The hole 16 in the recoil-shield below the frame, arranged in combination with the opening in' the plate L,substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

- A. HALL. Witnesses:

G. W. REED,

DANIEL ROBERTSON. 

